Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2017 | Page 50

ADDING NEW BRANDS
Eric Werner
demands of corporate life. She launched
her franchise search with a mission to bring
a brand with entertainment value to her
hometown of Clayton, N.C., a small town
undergoing a downtown revitalization
and planned development not far away.
Owens opted for Wine & Design, based
in nearby Raleigh, and opened her first
franchise in 2013.
“The Internet was my main go-to
tool,” she says. “From a personal perspec-
tive, I reached out through social media
to gauge interest in our market and the
experiences of those who had attended an
event of a paint-and-sip franchise. I was
able to research other models’ FDDs and
compare.” And of course before signing,
she had her business attorney review the
brand’s FDD.
Owens, who now operates three Wine
& Design territories in North Carolina,
was drawn to the concept, the initial train-
ing, and the franchisor’s focus on contin-
ued support. The network operated more
“like a family of franchisees and expressed
a hunger to evolve and keep innovating,”
she says. “Day-to-day expectations to
create a cohesive experience across all
units was equally important. I also knew
that Wine & Design was a fairly young
model, and that there would be potential
for growth outside of our initial studio.”
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How bad do you want it?
When Todd Fetter began looking to buy
into his first franchise brand, the Ohio en-
trepreneur and father of five was certain
of two things: “We loved sports and we
loved wings,” says Fetter, who now owns
seven Buffalo Wings & Rings, with three
more slated to open this year.
No stranger to weighing the risks
and rewards of an investment, Fetter’s
ventures include mortgaging everything,
even a lawnmower and his wife’s van, to
buy his first company. While money re-
mains the bottom line in any deal, Fetter’s
initial move into franchising was out of
his comfort zone.
“I’m not that guy to find something
you love to do and make money,” says
Fetter, who signed with Buffalo Wings
& Rings in 2009 and spent the next four
years looking for the perfect site. “I’m the
guy who buys something to make money
and then love it. This was me stepping
out of my norm.”
Fetter narrowed his list after discov-
ering Buffalo Rings & Wings during an
online search. He found territories avail-
able in his own backyard, and a franchisor
with a home base just two hours away in
Cincinnati. Along with financials, Fetter
checked out the competition and what
customers were saying about the brand
on Facebook, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. And,
before even attending a discovery day,
Fetter and his wife spent plenty of time
eating the food. “You’ve got to do your
reconnaissance,” he says.
Amanda Owens
Evaluating the brand
Werner recommends would-be franchise
investors look for innovative brands with
consistent results. Along with his 48 Sub-
ways, his portfolio includes Wingstop, Little
Caesars Pizza, The Catch, LA Sunset Tan,
and Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center
(his most successful franchise investment
to date). When Werner evaluates a new
brand, he considers current trends and
whether the concept is growing within
its sector. Then there’s the question of
established versus emerging brands.
“There are two ways to look at it: the
high risk of getting in at the very begin-
ning on a newer concept, or the low risk
of proven concepts,” says Werner. “There
are pros and cons to both.” Newer con-
cepts, he says, provide opportunities to
dictate better franchise agreement terms
for future growth and territories if the
brand takes off. Established brands may
mean growth is more limited, but they
offer a track record of proven success
and name recognition when entering
new markets.
Once Werner locks in on a specific
franchisor, he conducts a kind of SWOT
analysis, evaluating the strengths and
weaknesses of the potential investment,
competitive threats, if a brand must do
a lot of volume to make money, and the
percentage and number of multi-unit
franchisees in the system. “If that is high,
it means they are so successful that people
want more,” he says.
When assessing a brand, due diligence